Stamping and recording machine for fruit cartons



April 13, 1965 STAMPING AND REC Filed May 2, 1963 E. L. STEVENS ORDINGMACHINE FOR FRUIT CARTONS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 19 N 9 12 1 F JWUHM n m UEDGAR lT q z fi'ms V3 B A ril 13, 1965 E. L. STEVENS 3,177,802

STAMPING AND RECORDING MACHINE FOR FRUIT CARTONS Filed May 2, 1963 5Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. EDGAR L. STEVENS \mqb ATTORNEY April 13, 1965E. STEVENS 3,177,802

STAMPING AND RECORDING MACHINE FOR FRUIT CARTQNS Filed May 2, 1963 I5Sheets-Sheet 5 v M ml INVENTOR EDGAR L STEVENS k \A ATTORNEY UnitedStates Patent G ,y 7 3,177,302 STAMPING AND RECGRDING MACHINE FUR FRUITCARTONS Edgar L. Stevens, 836 17th Ave, Vero Beach, Fla.

Filed May 2, 1963, Ser. No. 277,526

2 Claims. (El. 101-44) This invention relates to an automatic stampingdevice tor stamping cartons that traverse a conveyor system and with thestamping of the carton, such as a carton of fruit being upon the leadingend of the carton.

An object of the present invention is to dispose a stamping device in anelevated position above a conveyor and with the device being in the pathof movement of a loaded carton sothat the device is bodily elevated asthe carton passes therebeneath and with the carton then continuing itsmovement for yieldable engagernent with a stamping roller to initiallystamp the end of the carton and with the roller then being progressivelyshifted upwardly to permit the carton to continue its travel under theinfluence of the conveyor and with the stamping having yieldablestamping bands thereon that carry numerals and letters indicating a lotnumher and a particular fruit that is packed in the carton so that thelot number and the fruit classification is automatically stamp-ed uponthe carton as it passes beneath the device.

A further object of the invention resides in a printing roller that isformed with a plurality of yieldable segments supported upon a crossshaft and whereby the numerals or fruit designation may conform to theend of the box totake up any irregularities of the carton.

A further object of the invention resides in novel inking means for theroller that embodies a pair of fiat arms rotatable upon a cross shaft ofthe frame member and with the arms being provided with downwardlyextending cams that are initially engaged by the carton to elevateinking pads away from the printing roller whereby the roller may have afull pressure engagement against the carton end and then as the cartoncontinues its movement, the roller is elevated and rolls upon the top ofthe carton against the tension of a spring and to a positon where theprinting roller is moved in an arcuate path to dispose the numerals andthe carton contents in a position to receive the inking pads, the inkingpads being released after the carton has elevated the arms so that theinking pads will drop downwardly for inking the numerals and the fruitdesignation.

Novel means are provided for the mounting of the roller in a bracketdevice and With the bracket device carrying a cam having a fiat sidethat bears between a pair of spring tension plates so that, as thecarton passes throughthe machine, sufiicienttension Will be exerted uponthe roller to cause it to clearly stamp the end of the carton.

Novel features of construction and operation ofthe device will be moreclearly apparent during the course of the following description,reference being had to the aecompanyingdrawings wherein has beenillustrated the preferred form of the device and wherein like charactersof reference are employed to denote like parts through: out the severalfigures.

In the drawings: a FIGURE 1 is a top plan view of a conveyor deviceshowing the invention in use,

FIGURE 2 is aside elevational view thereof, FIGURE 3 is an enlargedsection taken substantially on line 33 of FIGURE 2, i FIGURE 4 is a topplan view of the device, FIGURE 5 is a longitudinal sectional view takensub stantially online 5-5 of FIGURE 4, a

' to the rails 6 of the conveyor.

ice

FIGURE 6 is a longitudinal sectional view taken through the mountingdevice for theroller,

FIGURE 7 is a longitudinal section taken substantially on line 7-7 ofFIGURE 6, and

FIGURE 8 is a transverse section taken substantially on line 88 ofFIGURE 7.

. Referring specifically to the drawings and particularly to FIGURES 1and 2, there has been illustrated a conveyor 5 of any particularmaterial and the conveyor may be a belt or conveyor chains. The conveyor5 is supported in side rails 6 in any desirable manner. The stampingdevice has been illustrated as a whole by the numeral 7. The device 7embodies a supporting frame having side plates 8 carrying a cover 9,that is hinged at 10 to an upper flange 1 1. of one plate 3 and so thatthe cover may be'swung upwardly for access to the interior mechanism.

The device 7 is carried by a pair of fiat arms 12 that are pivotallyconnected to a post 13 as indicated at 14. The post 13 carries a plate15 that is fixed to an upstanding U-shaped bracket 16 and with the legsof the bracket 16 being rigidly connected A screw device 1? extendsthrough the upper arm 12 and through the plate 15 and constitutes theadjustable means for limiting the downward movement of the arms 12 ontheir pivots 14. The arms 12 at their opposite ends are pivoted at 18 toan angle post 19 that is carried by a cross plate 20 having its oppositeends fixed to the side plate 8. It will thus be observed, that thedevice 7, see particularly FIGURE-1, is suspended over the conveyor andin the path of movement of cartons. The entire body assembly is causedto rise and fall when the carton travels therebeneath and to facilitatethe engagement of the top of the carton with the device, the side Walls8 are flanged at 8', to constitute runners that ride upon the surface ofthe carton. The arms 12 maintain the unit in a central position withrespect to the belt 5 and permits the unit '7 to be elevated by thecarton and downward movement of the unit is by gravity and is controlledby the bolt 17.

Mounted upon a cross shaft 21 are a couple of flat arms 22. The arms 22are provided with downwardly extending cams 23' that project normallybelow the flanges 8' to dispose the cams in the line of movement of thecarton. The arms 22 at their opposite ends pivotally support a pair ofinking pads 24 and 25, pivotally connected to the arms at 26. It willthus be apparent that as the carton is conveyed beneath the device 7,the carton normally strikes the flanges 8a, elevating the mechanism andthen under-rides the cams 23, forcing the inking pads upwardly and awayfrom the roller, to be described.

. A printing roller is indicated as a whole by the numeral 27. Theroller is rotatably supported upon a square shaft 28, having trunnions 2that have a bearing in a U-shape bracket, indicated M39. The roller 27further embodies a plurality of cylindrical disks 31, having squareopenings 32 and with the openings 32 being relatively larger than theshaft 28-. 'The cylindrical disks are biased in one direction withrespect to the shaft 28 by springs33, seating in recesses 34 of theshaft 28 and With;the disks in. their normalposition being concentricwith respect to the trunnions 29. Three adjacent disks are provided witha band of printing numerals indicated at 35,.such constitutingtheparticular lot number for the particular run of packaged fruit throughthe plant. There are three numeral bands 35, being preferably formed ofrubber and the bands-35 are locked against shiftingby clips 36. EX

tending across the peripheries of theother disks is an strip 37 extendsthrough a dovetail openingj38 of each of.

. 3 its supporting disks and the locking clip 39 is arranged at one endof the roller to prevent displacement of the strip and to permitinterchange of strips for other types of goods. Fixed upon the oppositeends of the square shaft 28 are end plates 40. The end plates 40 arecylindrical for their major circumference and with one side flattened asindicated at 41. In the normal printing position, the fiat edges of theend plates 443 permit the printing elements 35 and 37 to extend beyondthe flattened portion for a full contacting engagement with the leadingend of the carton. It will be observed that each of the disks 31 areyieldable with respect to the shaft 28 and thus permits the typenumerals and other designations to readily conform to anyirregularitiesof the carton. The roller as mounted upon the trunnion 29 is thusrollable first against the end of the carton and then as the cartonmoves forwardly, the roller is caused to ride over and upon the top ofthe carton imparting a rotative movement to the roller by the engagementof the carton with the marginal edges of the plates40. The rotation ofthe rollers is against the tension of a coil spring 42 much in themanner of a shade roller and is limited in its return movement by stops43, engaging the legs 30' of the bracket 30. With respect to theoperation so far of the structure described, the carton first engagesthe flanges 8a to bodily elevate the mechanism and as the carton movesforward, it strikes the earns 23, causing the arms 22 to swing upwardlyto raise the inking pads 24 and 25. As the carton continues in itsforward movement, it is stamped by the indicia carrying means 35 and 37and then the roller is elevated and over-rides the top of the carton,causing the roller to be elevated and rotated sufficiently to place theflat sides of the plates 40 and the stamping strips 37 to underlie theinking pads 24 and 25 and will be maintained in that position so long asthe carton is passing through the devices and, the trailing end of thecarton will then release the earns 23, permitting the inking pads 24 and25 to drop downwardly by gravity to ink the type then, when the cartonpasses entirely through the machine, the roller drops by gravity to itsnormal stamping position such as that illustrated in FIGURES and 6.

Since it more or less requires that the stamping roller be able toconform to other than a flat surface, the roller may be slightlypivotally supported to swing in a horizon tal plane. The bracket 30 isconnected to an arm 44 by a threaded bolt 45. The bolt may rotate in acylindrical head 46 carried by the arm 44 and is limited in its swingingmovement by a bifurcated plate 47 that is adapted to contact either sideof the arm 44 to limit the pivotal movement of the bracket and the'sup'ponted roller. It is also necessary that suificient force beexerted by the roller 27 to print the numerals and the otherdesignations upon the carton and to yieldably support the roller, thearm 44 is fixed upon a shaft 48 and this shaft carries a cam element 49.The cam 49 is provided with a flat portion 50 that rides between a pairof adjustable plates 51. At their rear extremities, the plates 51 areadjustably connected by abolt 52. In the position of the cam 49 shown inFIG- URE 6, the flat surface '50 is hearing against the upper plate51-such being theprinting position for the roller 27,

The plates 51 are tensioned together by abolt 53 having a' wing nut 54threaded thereon and a compression spring 55 bears between the nut andthe upper surface of the upper plate 51, biasing the plates together.Thus, when the carton comes in contact with the roller, sufficient forceis necessary to print the indicia upon the carton and such continuedforward pressure as exerted by the carton will swing the roller in thearcaute path upon the dotted lines in FIGURE 5 and, when the flatsurface 50 passes beyond its contact point of the plate 51, the rolleris then free to swing the additional distance necessary to align theprinting type with the inking pads 24 and 25. By this time, the cartonhas passed from beneath the earns 23 and permits the arms 22 and theirsupported pads to drop downwardly to ink the type upon the roller andafter the carton has passed from beneath the roller, the roller willdrop downwardly and at the bottom of its movement, the type will then beproperly positioned for a next carton. As the cartonpasses through themachine, the roller is rotated by frictional engagement with the cartonagainst the tension of the spring 42 and in its limit of position, thetype has been properly positioned for re-inking.

Suitable guide rails 56 may be mounted upon the rails 6 to function forproper alignment of the carton with the printing device. Also positionedupon one wall 8 is a counter mechanism 57 that is tripped by the cartonas it passes beneath the machine and whereby an accurate count may beobtained for the usual period of operation of the plant.

In the use of the device, a carton after having been filled with fruitor the like is placed upon the conveyor 5 and travels under theinfluence of the conveyor and guided by the arms 56, properly aligns thecarton with the stamping mechanism. As the carton engages the mechanism,it first trips the counter 57 and then engages the flanges 8 of theframe, elevating the housing 7. Simultaneously the carton engages thecams 23, causing the inking pads to swing upwardly out of contact withthe stamping roller 27, permitting the roller to fall downwardly andalso simultaneously rotating to dispose the type or other indicia 37 forcontacting engagement with the leading end of the carton. The spring 55having moved the plates 51 together, engages the fiat surface 50 of thecam roller 49, exerting adequate pressure against the roller 27 sumcientto cause the stamping upon the end of the carton to be performed withsuflicient pressure after which, the carton under the influence of theconveyor forces the roller mechanism 27 upwardly and the roller thenrolls upon the top of the carton moving the roller upwardly to thedotted line position of FIG-,

URE 5 to a point where the type or other indicia is in a position tounderlie the stamp pads 24 and 25 and when the carton has sufficientlypassed beneath the mechanism the pads 24 and 25 will fall downwardly tore-ink the type and the stop lugs 43 control the degree of rotation ofthe roller so that the type is properly aligned for receiving the inkingpads 24 and 25. After the carton has passed beneath the roller, theroller is free to drop downwardly to a position where the type or otherindicia is disposed in the path of movement of a following carton andwhen the carton has fully moved beneath the mechanism, the entiremechanism will drop downwardly and be limited in its downward movementby the arms 12. After the roller bracket is released from the cam roller49, it will be free to swing in a vertical plane and swings downwardlyto such an extent that the flat surface St) under the influence of thespring 55 again tensions the stamping side of the roller for stampingthe next successive carton.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that a very novel mechanism hasbeen employed to effectively stamp the number and name of the particularfruit or other commodity on the endof the carton. The device is mosteffective for automatically stamping the leading end of a carton that istraveling under the influence of a conveyor. The device is applicable toany conventional conveyor whether it is a belt or a chain and isdisposed in the line or movement of the carton to be stamped. The stamp;ing roller readily adjusts itself to any uneven surface of the cartonand the construction of the roller 'is'such as to conform to any unevensurface. The device is relatively simple in construction, is strong,durable and cheap to manufacture. a i

It .is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the preciseconstruction shown, but that changes are contemplated as readily fallwithin the spirit of the invention as shall be determined by the scopeof the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In a device for stamping the ends of cartons carried successively ona conveyor, a housing pivotally mounted above the conveyor, said housingincluding inclined surfaces by which it is elevated by contact with acarton carried beneath it by the conveyor, a bracket mounted within thehousing, an arm adjustably connected to said bracket, a stamping rollercarried by said arm, means carried by said arm for permitting the rollerto rock in a horizontal direction to accommodate itself to unevenness inthe end of a carton, the arm being fixed on a shaft extendingtransversely of the housing, a cam roller mounted on said shaft, a pairof plates pivotally supported'in the housing with the cam arrangedbetween them, the cam roller having a flattened surface for engagementby one of said plates to prevent rotative movement of the shaft to holdthe roller against pivotal swing so that the roller can impose printingpressure on the carton, the roller after stamping the end of a cartonbeing elevated by movement ofthe carton and caused to partake of arolling movement over the top of the carton to rotate the roller to aposition for inking.

2. The structure according to claim 1, wherein the roller includes asquare shaft having trunnions at its opposite ends for rotatableengagement With parts carried by the roller-supporting arm, the rollerhaving end plates at its opposite ends, said plates being flat at oneedge, spring means at one end of the roller for biasing the roller inone direction, a stop lug for limiting the rotation of the roller ineither direction, a plurality of disks disposed on the square shaft withcertain of the disks supporting bands of numerals, means for adjustingthe bands of numerals, the other disks being adapted to support anelongated indicia-carrying strip, and spring means between the disks andthe square shaft by which the printing indicia is made yieldabie in itscontacting engagement with the end of the carton to conform with anyuneven surface on the carton, and locking means by which the indicia isfixed with respect to the disks.

WILLIAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner.

1. IN A DEVICE FOR STAMPING THE ENDS OF CARTONS CARRIED SUCCESSIVELY ONA CONVEYOR, A HOUSING PIVOTALLY MOUNTED ABOVE THE CONVEYOR, SAID HOUSINGINCLUDING INCLINED SURFACES BY WHICH IT IS ELEVATED BY CONTACT WITH ACARTON CARRIED BENEATH IT BY THE CONVEYOR, A BRACKET MOUNTED WITHIN THEHOUSING, AN ARM ADJUSTABLY CONNECTED TO SAID BRACKET,A STAMPING ROLLERCARRIED BY SAID ARM, MEANS CARRIED BY SAID ARM FOR PERMITTING THE ROLLERTO ROCK IN A HORIZONTAL DIRECTION TO ACCOMMODATE ITSELF TO UNEVENNESS INTHE END OF A CARTON, THE ARM BEING FIXED ON A SHAFT EXTENDINGTRANSVERSELY OF THE HOUSING, A CAM ROLLER MOUNTED ON SAID SHAFT, A PAIROF PLATES PIVOTALLY SUPPORTED IN THE HOUSING WITH THE CAM ARRANGEDBETWEEN THEM, THE CAM ROLLER HAVING A FLATTENED SURFACE FOR ENGAGEMENTBY ONE OF SAID PLATES TO PREVENT ROTATIVE MOVEMENT OF THE SHAFT TO HOLDTHE ROLLER AGAINST PIVOTAL SWING SO THAT THE ROLLER CAN IMPOSE PRINTINGPRESSURE ON THE CARTON, THE ROLLER AFTER STAMPING THE END OF A CARTONBEING ELEVATED BY MOVEMENT OF THE CARTON AND CAUSED TO PARTAKE OF AROLLING MOVEMENT OVER THE TOP OF THE CARTON TO ROTATE THE ROLLER TO APOSITION FOR INKING.